Thursday, May 21, 2009

Papi shines! And so does the Acer!

Globe photo by Bill Greene

So the long wait is finally over. Last night, in his 150th at-bat of the season, Big Papi's bat finally woke up. He hit a shot to dead "central" (from the Ecktionary), and suddenly the sun burst through. It was a huge relief to him - and to all of the faithful of RS Nation. The reaction of his teammates was awesome - they gave him the rookie "silent treatment" as he returned to the dugout, and then swarmed all over him. One of the most touching camera shots for me was Tim Wakefield with his arm draped around Ortiz, obviously congratulating him and just enjoying the moment with his friend. And the crowd rewarded him with a RARE Fenway curtain call. (Unlike the Yankees who hand them out when Jeter trims his nails).

As a Red Sox fan, Ortiz' performance last night - as well as the four other home runs in the game and Ellsbury's record tying defensive night - bodes well for the rest of the season. They're getting hot at the right time - while playing a series against the division leading Jays and before the Mets come to town. But I must admit to a selfish angle -- I'll be in Boston this weekend for two of the three games against the Mets, and I want to see some hot offense!

I will be in Boston - but I'll try to post updates. That should be easier than past RS road trips, as my brand new netbook arrived Tuesday - after a long, angst-ridden wait. Briefly, I had been coveting a netbook for a few weeks. I don't own a laptap, and this seemed the perfect way to have internet and email access when I travel. I thought it would be particularly great to have on this Boston trip. I researched my options, and finally decided on the Acer Inspire One - it was rated #2 this month in Consumer Reports and was right in my price range. Plus, they offer it in a very cute copper color.

So I ordered it May 11th on Amazon and chose the free shipping option. By Wednesday, the order was still pending. So I decided to go in and change the shipping option. Well, once you've placed an order, you can't change the shipping. Aargh. Next, I decided I'd just cancel the order and start fresh. Well, I couldn't cancel because the shipment was "being prepared for shipping." Yeah! I checked Thursday and Friday - and the order was STILL being prepared for shipping. Really? How much had to be done - it was the only item ordered and they literally only had to walk over to a shelf and stick the box in another box and send it! By Friday, I was feeling quite frustrated. So I decided, heck, I'll just order another one and return whichever one came later. Guess what? They were no longer available!! So then I began to panic - had they sold me the item and not had enough in stock? By Monday morning - still being told that the item was being prepared for shipment - I was getting panicked and pissed. Then, amazingly, I got an email Monday night saying it had been shipped that day - and I could expect it Tuesday! Hallelujah!

It is so cute. The keyboard is smaller than my desktop, obviously, but not all that hard to use. It came with a cute little mouse, so that I don't have to use that blasted touch pad. The picture resolution is terrific. And their latest version has a 6 cell battery (as opposed to the 3 cell) - my first run through the charge gave me over 8 hours! I've used it on a wireless network and off my home modem, and both were great! So I'm ready for this trip - as well as all my future trips!!!